


A Glasgow Kiss For Luck

by Shippaddict



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Sparring, everyone is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 22:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13668501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shippaddict/pseuds/Shippaddict
Summary: “No but Jess! There’s so many cats here, I can’t even pin which apartment it is, just that it’s across the street and has fourteen – at least fourteen, cats in it. That’s so many cats!” She bumped him a little harder that time. “It’s too many cats!” Matt grinned into his coat. “There's no living person that could stomach that up close.”“Do you think they ate her?” Matt's cane stuttered mid swing when he laughed. “No but think about it, you said no living person and that block is a shit show. It's not a question of who's feeding these cats, right? It's what.”





	A Glasgow Kiss For Luck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [martial_quill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/martial_quill/gifts).



> I can't tag in mobile. And I'm a dumbass, sorry it's so late in the game. I was really worried about being ooc. Luckily my beta is a real piece of work but they signed it off! I hope you like it! Heart emoji! I'll fix the formatting when I'm not being a dumbass I swear.

   The yellow glow of Fogwell’s crept into the surrounding alleys, from the street a group of teenagers lighting-up were cast into soft relief. Jessica wasn’t worried about being spotted thanks to the well-loved coat of grime on each of the windows. Matt never worried because he had been familiar with the exact amount of privacy Fogwell’s afforded its clientele. The dull smack of flesh on flesh was nothing new.

“Shit! Okay, devil boy, stop for a second.” Jessica batted away a slowing punch. “My hair’s trying to kill me, the damn things gone wild.” Matt made a curious noise as Jessica wrangled her hair tie.

“How wild?” Matt cocked his head, trying to make sense of the sharp elbowed shape she made fixing her hair. “Hm, between freshly noogied and Medusa in Clash of the Titans?” Jessica snorted, but cut out into a hiss when her hand caught of a tight knot.

“I thought that movie came out in two-thousand ten.”

“Plasticine Medusa, from the eighties, I mean.” Jessica huffed another little curse and forced her hair back into a ponytail. Matt rolled his shoulders and slipped back into form without waiting for her to finish.

“You ass. We were getting pretty close to it, but I bet Medusa spits her hair out her mouth less often.” Matt smiled at her. Jessica caught herself smiling back before the motion became big enough for him to notice. She slipped back into form. “You ready to get your ass kicked?”

   Jessica swung out, fist glancing over Matt’s shoulder as he twisted away. Matt was looking pretty wild himself. His loose vest was sticking to him, he pulled it off his skin at every pause. And his hair was sticking to his forehead, Jessica followed the motions of his hands with her eyes, she swallowed when he raked his hair back from his face. It looked a little slicker every time he did it. His eyes were warm and they crinkled at the corners. 

“You need to loosen your shoulders, you can't swing right if you're tense.” He couldn't match her gaze, but tried his best to look encouraging. Something Malcolm probably had a hand in. “Move that focus down to you gut and punch from your waist.” 

“How am I ever gonna learn how to hit ‘the right way’ if you dance away every time?” Matt ducked another punch and smacked her in the shoulder for her troubles; harder than a love tap but softer than a punch. 

“When you land more than one in five punches we can work on more specific technique.” His grin turned boyish and Jessica dropped low, she brushed his ribs. “There’s four so I know it’s coming.” He snorted. “You’re gonna hit me like a subpoena before I know what’s coming.” Jessica couldn’t contain the incredulous laugh that bubbled up with that.

“That is possibly the single stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” Matt ducked left. “They’re horns!” She whined, voice high and nasal.” Matt punched across and Jessica took the hit to her hip. She slammed her fist down on his collar bone. “Stop aiming for bone!”

“You stop aiming for bone!” Matt kicked her in the knee and rolled his shoulders out of her reach. “I think you punched a direct line to my funny bone, damn.” Jessica hobbled back into range. Matt stayed distracted in his full body wiggle. “This is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me.” Jessica huffed. She rocked forward into another punch, aiming for Matt’s gut. He moved into the hit using the twist at her waist - just like they practiced, conserving energy - to get into her face. He aimed for her ribs again, but the knee he’d just kicked gave out. Jessica dropped and Matt had just slammed his knuckles into her sternum. Jessica’s head banged forward on reflex and smacked Matt square in the mouth. They hit the ground together.

   Jessica hissed out a string of curses breathlessly. She knocked her chest and wheezed, than sat up and repeated the motion. 

“Fuck.” Matt said, muffled by her abdomen. He tried to untangle them. “I’m so sorry Jess, shit, I’m so sorry.” Jessica grabbed him by the scruff with her free hand and gave them some space. “Thanks.” He spat. He looked a little surprised about how wet the word came out.

“Oh shit.” Wheezed Jessica. His chin was streaked with blood. “I didn’t put anything through your lip, right? Holy shit that’s gross, you’ve got all your teeth don’t you?” Matt spluttered a bringing a hand up to assess the damage on the outside. He probed a careful finger just inside his mouth. Jessica ‘eughed’ loudly between pants. He pulled his finger out of his mouth and Jessica ‘eughed!’ again.

“Nothing went through, I’ve got all my teeth and everything.” He tried to smile but it was more like a tacky, wet grimace. His hand was still connected to his mouth by a string of blood and saliva. Jessica reached out a tentative hand and pulled his own hand away until the string broke. He lifted his ruined vest at the neck to catch the blood, spitting into it. “I just cut up my lip a little I'm fine. Are you okay? I can't hear any fractures but you're still having trouble breathing and we should check that out.” Matt used his free hand to unstick the rest of his vest. Jessica kept her eyes on the floor, focused on calming her breathing and willing her heart not to do anything weird. 

“Jesus Christ, that was something.” Matt nodded beside her. “We done for the day?” Matt nodded again. Jessica wrapped her hand around Matt's ankle, giving it - what she hoped was - a comforting pat. They waited a little longer, resting on the sticky floor. Matt was working his way down his vest until he just had to pull the while thing off and bite down on it. 

   Matt stewed over his mistake, he shouldn't of invaded Jessica's space like that in the first place. Sparring was sparring and he shouldn't have been trying to tease. That wasn't even his first mistake, he had been doing his fair share of dicking around over the past half hour. Something about Jessica made him want to be playful, juvenile. He scratched his side absently. 

“You know Fogwells pretty well don't you?” Jessica squeezed his ankle. Matt stayed hunched into his vest as he spoke. 

“I grew up here.” Jessica sighed through her nose but waited for him to speak. She didn't rush him when it wasn't urgent; understood those sore spots. “I think my dad's poster is still on the wall.” Jessica hummed. 

“Yeah, it is.” She gave his ankle a final squeeze. “Stopped bleeding yet?” She shuffled up to her feet and muttered another curse at the ache in her knee. He head spun a for a second before she could bend down and offer Matt a hand. 

“I'm ready to go if you are, Jess.” She held out both her hands, waited for him to take them and let him pull himself up. “I can show you to the showers if you want.” Jessica let him go as soon as he was up, but she stayed close. 

“There is no possible universe where I want to see the showers in a place like this.” Matt smiled at her, expression tight around the burgeoning swell of his lip. 

“They're not that bad, a little discolouration I'm sure, and besides.” Jessica braced herself. “I promise not to look.” She cuffed him around the ear, and flapped her hands until he stopped giggling. She took a moment to wonder what the papers would do with something like that: ‘Violent Vigilante, Serial Giggler.’

“Asshole.” She huffed. 

   April was a dry heat this year and Matt felt less droopy in it. His vest was balled up in his gym bag, separated from his change of clothes by a scrounged tote bag. Jessica pulled her jacket over her work out clothes and had resolved quietly to wash both thoroughly. Matt had pulled on his glasses, hoodie and coat and decided that was as fully dressed as he felt like being. Jessica bumped her elbow against Matt’s as they walked, knocking them together whenever Matt shared his bizarre commentary of the block they were walking on. She huffed her laughter into her scarf.

“No but Jess! There’s so many cats here, I can’t even pin which apartment it is, just that it’s across the street and has fourteen – at least fourteen, cats in it. That’s so many cats!” She bumped him a little harder that time. “It’s too many cats!” Matt grinned into his coat. “There's no living person that could stomach that up close.”

“Do you think they ate her?” Matt's cane stuttered mid swing when he laughed. “No but think about it, you said no living person and that block is a shit show. It's not a question of who's feeding these cats, right? It's what.” Matt bumped her back. 

“Spooky. Okay, so, see that hardware place on the corner?” Jessica craned around him, she paused. 

“It's a locksmith but yeah.” Matt waited for her to catch up. 

“Really, a locksmith?” Jessica ‘mhmm’ed beside him. “Huh, thanks.” He flashed her a smile and something in him squirmed when Jessica's heart rate ticked up just a little. “There's a little garden on the roof, the owner's daughter - I think - is growing gardenias. She talks to them at night, tells them all about a girl at her school. It's very romantic.” Jessica bumped him. 

“Sounds… Sweet.” She turned her head and Matt breathed deeply. Jessica made him dizzy sometimes; he wasn't completely clueless, he knew that he liked her. Liked her, it was such a small thought - innocuously bubbly - made him feel small himself. Jessica straightened out of her scarf, she kept her gaze forward. Matt turned to look at her, he cocked his head in a gesture he'd been told was ‘inquisitively bird-like’. “How do you know they're gardenias?”

“In another life I could've been a gardener I think. My neighbour, when I was little, she got flowers from her son once a week. I used to do her dishes.” Matt's face went a little wistful and he took his gaze away. Jessica watched him in her peripherals. She wondered if Matt could tell. “He put a card on every bouquet and she used to read them out. I'm pretty familiar with the smell.” Jessica raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay there's no way that's true. That's private she wouldn't tell you shit.” Matt smirked a little. 

“It was private, I've just got very good hearing.” She nudged him hard enough that he stumbled a few steps. He laughed again. Jessica sighed through her teeth. 

“And people think I'm a snoop.” Matt turned to face her fully, glasses perched half-way off his nose. His eyes crinkled at the corners. 

“You snoop professionally, Miss Jones.” Jessica groaned. “Jess, may I call you Jess? You've been in the business of snooping professionally for two year now, haven't you?” Jessica kicked at his shins, and he hopped over her leg. 

“Your building’s coming up, horn head.” Matt frowned slightly, brow furrowing. 

“I can walk you to yours, it's no problem.” He had stopped walking completely and his head tracked her as she walked around his cane. 

“Yeah well yours is closer and I'm a big girl.” Jessica sniffed at him and Matt fell back into step. She willed her heart not to do any weird shit. 

“Sorry Jess, that wasn't-” He chewed his lip, pushed his glasses up, then continued. “Yeah, it's late, yeah.” They walked in silence to his walk-up. 

   Matt rocked on his heels at the door, listening to Jessica scuffing her boots against the steps of the doorway. 

“Sorry again about your ribs, and your head. ” He inclined his head towards her. “And overstepping at the end of the block. Are we good, Jess?” Jessica rolled her eyes. 

“Daredork.” Jessica followed the lines of his arms and watched him twist his hands against his cane. “Matt.” His glasses were slipping down his nose. She leaned closer, went up the first step. “Work on your tone.” She moved further into his space, and thought for a second she could feel the breath of his quiet ‘okay’ against her cheek. She steeled herself. Matt had softer lips than she was expecting, a little chapped and swollen from earlier but soft. Matt hummed against her mouth but didn't press her any further. Jessica pulled away and sucked in the night air through her heat. Barely cooler than the kiss itself. She kissed him again, open mouthed and felt Matt's hand brush her waist. 

“So we're good, right?” Matt looked a little dopey, smile loose and discreet. Jessica ran her tongue over his teeth in another soft kiss. She could taste the blood still between his teeth. 

“No, we're not even good acquaintances. If I saw you picking up your mail I'd smack it out of your hands.” She liked her lips and watched Matt do the same. Was the movement subconscious? “It's late and we're good.”

“‘Kay.” He breathed a little shakily. “Uh, nice- see you late week. Next week, I.”He swallowed. “Goodnight.” Jessica stepped back down to the street. The distance was good to admire the flush climbing up to his ears, and down his neck. “Night, Jess.” She smiled wide enough for him to pick up. 

“Night, Saint Matthew. Next week, same time.” He gave her a dizzy little wave and stood on the steps, staring down at his shoes until she was at the next corner. They stayed still for a moment. Both waiting on the other to move. “Big girl, Matt.” She watched him walk into his building, hiding her smile in her scarf and mapping the nearest bodega in her head. She needed to grab some drinks before she could rock up to Trish's place. 


End file.
